Inuvember 2019 - Day Eight
by A Mad Youkai Tea Party
Summary: A month-long celebration of the Inuyasha series, hosted on Tumblr. I decided to post them up here as well. Day Eight Prompt: Wolf Demon Tribe.


**Day 8: Yourouzoku **

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"What the hell is going on?"

"Maybe he's just sick? He was seriously poisoned after all; nearly lost his arm."

"This seems different than just sick."

"Well, he also walked in on a massacre — he refuses to even describe what he saw. If he feels the need to protect us from it, then you know something horrible went down."

"Even dying, he wouldn't have left the dead unburied. With those injuries, the fact that he's back so soon means that there wasn't much left of them."

Ginta and Hakkaku sighed as the listened to the wolves talk about their leader. Kouga had come back from his rescue attempt, in a state that made everyone wonder how he survived the journey. He answered what happened in a blunt way, refusing to go further into the details than he deemed necessary. After everyone had offered to cover most of his duties while he rested, he found himself some bedding and collapsed onto it. He didn't say much. He just occasionally looked at his arm with wonder in his eyes. The wolves wondered if that had something to do with the slight scent of Kagome they caught on him.

Kouga was different. They had started to notice some changes in him since he met Kagome, but they were small. Almost unnoticeable. Which wasn't too bad — puppy love was all it was, and once he got it out of his system, he'd be fine. Probably what Kagome would prefer, based on her reactions to Kouga's affections. So everyone would have been happy.

Now, however, it was like a different person had returned from the mission. This was the Kouga they had known all their lives, and yet this was also someone completely different from him. They didn't really know how to describe it. But there was a change going on in Kouga, something running through his head, and the fact that he hadn't snapped at the gossiping wolves around him meant that it startled him just as much as it did them. He was shaken by it. The others just wished they knew what it was.

"Believe it or not, I have seen this behavior before."

The wolves turned to see one of the older members of the pack, Kaito. He was never the most skilled warrior, and tended to focus his efforts more on healing — which is probably why he had lived for as long as he had, despite the threat of the _Gokurakuchou_. He was one of the few wolves Kouga would turn to for advice, though Kaito admitted he didn't have the skills and the mindset to really advise how he should lead. Still Kouga used his knowledge of medical advice to his advantage, and he always checked with Katio before putting a recently injured wolf in a dangerous situation, even if the wolf argued they were fine.

"Is it sickness?"

"I knew it. It has to be."

"Shut up and let him speak!"

Kaito laughed, "This is something that many wolves go through, though this is an interesting way of expressing it. I have seen only one other instance of this — Chihiro did this after an interesting encounter with Daichi."

There was a long silence that followed, just as the words slowly started to sink into the surrounding wolves. Ginta and Hakkaku were probably the only ones who weren't too surprised by the revelation. They may not have seen it coming, but it didn't completely throw them off kilter. And really, when they thought about it, the potential was there. So for the entire pack to so caught of guard by it was just shameful. The wolves only glanced over at Kouga for a bit, who had started to absent-mindedly pet the wolf that was resting behind him.

"Oh yeah, he's definitely got it bad."

"I like the girl. She's got guts, a good instinct, and seems like the kind to take no shit from anyone. She'd be a good leader."

"I mean last time we did listen to her despite Kouga's orders so..."

"She seems pretty nice. I think she would shake things up in a good way."

"Don't forget powerful — she'd be able to annihilate any threat with her arrows alone. We'd never have to fear any youkai ever again as long as we had her."

Kouga could hear them. He made a mental note to give them a good scare later, the nosy idiots. But really, how could he properly function right now. He was completely in love with Kagome. A human. A miko. He died the day he met her, and now she completely held his heart in the palm of her hands. She could ask anything of him, and he'd give it to her. She wants to the world, she'll have it. She wants Naraku's head, he'll give it to her on a silver platter. She wants his life, then he'll hand it over. He had a chance to escape it. But he walked right into it, knowing where it would lead him.

Kagome might never love him. He had already acknowledge that as a possibility. But he refused not to take a shot. And really, what else could he do? He was completely devoted to her now. He wasn't afraid of anything, not anymore. Because now that he had given his heart to Kagome, there was nothing that could truly hurt him. All he needed was to see her smile, and he'd be alright.

He could handle any amount of pain and suffering with a smile, as long as she was happy.

After all, wolves mated for life. It can take awhile to figure out who they truly love. But then they found them, it would stay that way until the day they died.

Kouga would die loving Kagome. And somehow, that made death just a little less scary.


End file.
